Dr Paul Litchfield has been appointed to undertake the fifth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment and to provide the report before the end of 2014.
The review asked about:
- the impact of previous Independent Reviews;
- the experience of the WCA process;
- the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG) or Support Group; and
- Mental Health conditions and Learning Difficulties.
You can view our response to the fifth independent review here
The 5th Review
The published review finds that there is an overwhelming negative perception of the WCA’s effectiveness amongst people undergoing an assessment and individuals or organisations providing support to them.
There were also concerns about frequent re-referral rates for people in the support group.
He agrees there should be further independent reviews.
You can view the review at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-independent-review-year-5
Our comment
Disability Rights UK's Policy and Communications Manager Philip Connolly said:
"The fifth annual review of the Work Capability Assessment led by Paul Litchfield is really two reports and not one. In the first report the attention is on the present system and contain some appropriate ideas such as using semi-structured interviews, reducing the numbers of separate assessments and sharing information with the provider community that delivers the person’s back to work support. However it is also a missed opportunity in that it doesn’t examine the relevance of the descriptors or the evidence for them. Why did the review highlight the use of the regulation concerned with risk to the person - 35 (2) (b) - without realising that the use of this regulation is because of the deficiencies in the descriptors? The second report occurs when the fifth review responds to the challenge of the redesign of the WCA that the Select Committee has called for. In this section the review calls for the WCA to be looked at more holistically and sketches a way forward e.g.an approach that goes beyond a medical assessment. Overall we are left as readers hoping for a someone with a sixth sense."